Museum objects tend to stay still in their display cases. Chatting with an interpretation friend who works in natural heritage recently, I reflected on how difficult it must be to tell stories about things that move. And so meet Dash, a three-year-old tiger who, the online interpretation says “has travelled to the zoo from Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland on an IMPORTANT MISSION to help to protect his species from extinction.”

The small print of the interpretation quietly acknowledges that Dash has been identified as a genetically compatible mate for the zoo’s resident female, Kasarna, who was born at Chester in 2015. Oh, that kind of mission. I see. Well even the zoo hopes he certainly won’t be staying still for long then.

The story does a good job of relating how Dash’s and Kasarna’s task of making more tigers is vital for the survival of the species. But it’s clever not to lead with the doom and gloom story, instead inviting something of a nod and a wink about the birds and the bees. Now that’s a more interesting way of interpreting natural heritage than sticking butterflies on a museum board or stuffing walruses for display cases.